UPPER PROVIDENCE — Lower Moreland crawls out of the doldrums of the Bicentenial-Indepedence League and into the top-heavy AAA District One Playoffs to meet the Pioneer-Frontier-winning Pope John Paul II squad in the first round

Lower Moreland shuffled into the triple-A playoffs, while the higher-ranked teams in their league find themselves in double and single-A playoffs. At 4-8 in league play and 9-13 overall, the Lions finished better than expected after a 1-5 start to the season.

Lower Moreland enjoyed four wins over teams with winning records: Calvary Christian Academy, Perkiomen High School, Girard College High School and New Hope-Solebury. The win over Calvary Christian was certainly the high point of the season thus far, with the 53-49 victory over the Cougars representing one of seven wins they had away from home. The court at home was certainly not their ally, either. Of five home games they were victorious only twice.

PJPII had itself a year of ups and downs as well — starting 10-3 overall, but after a one-point defeat at Methacton they stumbled onto a five-game losing streak. The Jack Flanagan-coached squad consists mainly of young talent with only four of their 14 players graduating in 2013. One of whom is power forward, Jamel Stinson, standing 6-foot-4-inches and possessing the muscle to match up any opposing center.

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At the Triangle Tournament in December when PJPII faced the height-endowed Norristown, Stinson led all scorers with 17 points and pulled 12 rebounds in the game. PJPII nearly beat the thn 20th ranked team in the state, but Norristown ultimately won, 34-31, a defnesive-minded battle.

Later in the season, however, Stinson was tasked with guarding Methacton’s stout forward in Brendan Casper, who rose to the occasion and led his team with 24 points in a 43-42 victory over PJPII. Stinson held Casper to two points in the first quarter, far behind Casper’s average of 21 points a game, but Casper adjusted and made jumpers that defending forwards aren’t typically accustomed to guarding against.

Lower Moreland also consists of a majority of younger players, three of which will graduate in 2013. Their second-year coach, Seth Baron, has coached his team to a 25-22 record overall. Their former coach, John Conrad, had a record of 102-51 over six seasons.

PJPII’s Brent Mahoney is a threat from deep, but also finds much of his success breaking into the lane and earning trips to the foul line. Lower Moreland will need to be disciplined inside with the play of senior center and co-captain, Demitri Zoubroulis. Lower Moreland will need to earn those rebounds and hinder PJPII’s second chance opportunities.

Norristown’s road to states

Norristown will start the more difficult journey of reaching the state playoffs by fighting through the so-called “loser’s bracket” to vie for a ninth seed. On Tuesday night, Norristown was handed their first loss at home since dropping one to Abington over two months ago.

The top eight teams in the District One playoffs — Chester (1), Upper Darby (9), Ridley (13), Abington (5), Lower Merion (2), Coatesville (10), Great Valley (3), Methacton (6) — earned their right on Tuesday night to play in the state tournament. While tenth ranked Coatesville knocked off seventh ranked Hatboro-Horsham, Norristown was the most surprising upset of the evening.

Norristown’s Luke Kelley said, “We were cocky, we came in with our heads held high because they were a lower seed.”

Many of the players were not available to chat after the game, but nevertheless the season is not over. On Friday, Norristown will face Penn Wood at home, and as a result of their high seed should retain home court throughout the rest of their District One games. The road to the state tournament may have been a shortcut through Ridley, but nevertheless the scenic route will arrive them at the same destination, albeit with a few bumps and bruises.

Germantown Academy ballers mark top of Inter-Academic League

Germantown Academy has four senior players to be given the honors of Inter-Ac All-League selections this season. The 2013 PAISAA champions had a landmark season, going undefeated in league play, and have four players that will move on to collegiate play.

Senior center Julian Moore was awarded the Co-MVP honors with Sophomore Shawn Alston from the Haverford School. Greg Dotson and Nick Lindner were named to the first team, while James Drury was elected to the second.

Point guard Nick Lindner finished high school with 1234 career points. In 24 games this season, he average 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. He has committed to Lafayette College.

Fellow guard James Drury played all 29 games of the season and averaged 9.6 points per game. Drury was incremental in the victory over Haverford School in the PAISAA semifinal, scoring 17 points, hitting two three-pointers and going 7-8 from the line.

Division-1-bound Julian Moore, Inter-Ac co-MVP, will go on to help Penn State next year after putting up 420 points this season, with an average of 14.5 points per game. The 6-10 forward in addition to his points total, added 8.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. Moore’s end of game free throws put GA on top of Kiski in the PAISAA final.

Greg Dotson, with first-team honors, is still undecided as far as colleges go, but has plenty of options. He said on record that he was “leaning toward one of the Ivy League schools,” but also cites an importance of going to school in proximity to his family so his parents can watch him play. Whether this means the University of Pennsylvania is in his future will remain to be seen. Dotson finishes his career at GA leading his team this season with 16.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. In his high school career he scored 1034 points.